Red Sox Beat: Thrown off by Cliff in loss to Phillies

Marathon bombing victim Jeff Bauman fired a strike. So did Carlos Arredondo, his rescuer. And then Ryan Dempster dueled Cliff Lee. The Phillies scratched out a run in the seventh inning to take the lead, which was all Lee needed in what was ultimately a 3-1 win Tuesday night over the Red Sox, capped by a save from former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Two of the heroes who emerged from the Boston Marathon attack, one who had his legs blown off but helped identify the bombers and one who saved the other’s life, brought the crowd at Fenway Park to its feet with their pregame pitches.

Ryan Dempster and Cliff Lee followed by firing strikes of their own.

For six innings they dueled, matching each other. Each blinked at the outset, allowing a run in the first frame, and then they gave nothing. And the nothings piled upon one another, until the seventh inning.

Dempster, who’d been on the precipice of danger a couple of times, blinked again.

The Phillies scratched out a run, which was all Lee needed in what was ultimately a 3-1 win Tuesday night over the Red Sox, capped by a save from former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Perhaps fittingly, after being showered with boos upon his arrival, he retired former teammates Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz for the final outs.

"Tonight was a classic pitchers’ duel," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "I thought Ryan Dempster was much improved over his three previous starts. ... He was down in the strike zone and had good secondary stuff, but we ran into a very good pitcher tonight. Cliff Lee was outstanding."

John Mayberry singled up the middle to start the decisive rally. Freddy Galvis followed with a sacrifice bunt, and Eric Kratz quickly delivered a single to center field to drive in Mayberry.

Dempster (2-6) retired the next two batters, but though minimal, the damage was done.

Two innings later, in the top of the ninth, Domonic Brown homered into the Red Sox bullpen on the first pitch Junichi Tazawa threw to give the Phillies a 3-1 advantage.

"I just got outpitched by the other guy," said Dempster. "When you’re going to go up there and match up against him you can’t make many mistakes, but I made a couple and it cost us a couple runs."

Dempster, a right-hander with a rhythm-less delivery, seemed an unlikely candidate to engage in a pitchers’ duel with Lee (6-2), a silky smooth lefty who won the 2008 AL Cy Young Award.

Dempster had struggled in recent weeks, bordering on awful.

He needed 85 pitches to get through just three innings in his last start, allowing four runs in a loss to the Indians. Before that, he allowed nine runs over 9 2/3 innings in his previous two starts, a no-decision against the Twins and a loss to the Blue Jays.

But Tuesday was a marked departure.

Though he flirted with imploding, he didn’t. He fought through seven innings, retiring the side in order just once. Ultimately, he gave up two runs on six hits, struck out four and walked three.

Page 2 of 2 - His first blink came against the second batter of the game, when he left a pitch thigh high over the middle of the plate to Michael Young, and Young blasted the pitch into the Monster Seats for a 1-0 Phillies lead.

"I thought he pitched well," said catcher David Ross. "He located his fastball, mixed his pitches really well, and got his off-speed (pitches) over when he had to. His best inning, to me, was that last inning. Those guys put some good at-bats on him and found some holes, but he was down in the zone and getting ground balls, and when he’s like that he’s really good."

Lee, of course, was better.

He came in with a 1.95 ERA this month, having allowed eight earned runs and 29 hits in 37 innings in May, including a three-hit shutout his last time out against the Miami Marlins.

While Dempster battled, Lee seemed to toy with the Red Sox lineup. He set down 11 straight hitters at one point from the first inning through the fourth, and followed that by retiring 11 more in a row.

He was never more in control than when he struck out Jonny Gomes on three pitches in the third inning, getting ahead with two fastballs and then making Gomes look foolish with a curve.

He allowed one run on four hits, struck out eight and walked none before handing off to Papelbon for the ninth.

Lee’s lone blink allowed the Red Sox to tie the score in the first. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, stole second with one out and Dustin Pedroia at the plate, then scored on a single up the middle by Pedroia.

"You have to tip your hat sometimes," said Pedroia. "He threw the ball great. ... There’s a reason why he’s one of the best pitchers. He attacks the zone, he hides the ball well. He’s pretty darn tough."

On a night when Bauman and Arredondo brought the crowd to its feet, Dempster was as good as he’s been in a while, but Lee played the role of silencer, with an assist from Papelbon.

Eric Avidon can be reached at 508-626-3809 or eavidon@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericavidon.